Binge Drinking
-
Binge drinking
: A pattern of drinking alcohol that results in a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or greater.
- 5 or more alcoholic drinks within 2 hours for men.
- 4 or more alcoholic drinks within 2 hours for women.
- The binge drinking rate is hig
Alcohol
-
Alcohol
is a chemical substance that is toxic to the body.
-
Ethyl alcohol
(ethanol) is the intoxicating ingredient in beer, wine, and distilled liquor.
- Proof value is a measurement of alcoholic strength, corresponding to twice the alcohol percentage
Alcohol Absorption and Metabolism
-
Absorption
: The process by which alcohol passes from the stomach or small intestine into the bloodstream.
-
Metabolism
: The breakdown of food and beverages in the body to transform them into energy.
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)
- The amount of alcohol present in blood, measured in grams of alcohol per deciliter of blood.
- BAC can be affected by several factors:
-- How much and how quickly you drink.
-- What you drink.
-- Sex, age, weight, and physical condition.
-- Food intake.
Intoxication
- Alcohol intoxication is the state of physical and/or mental impairment brought on by excessive alcohol consumption (BAC of 0.08% or greater).
- In a basic sense, it is another term for being drunk.
- Symptoms of intoxication vary depending on the indivi
Immediate Effects of Alcohol on the Body
- In addition to the effects of intoxication, other short-term effects can include:
- Dehydration.
- Gastrointestinal problems.
- Sleep disturbances.
- Alterations in the metabolic state of the liver and other organs.
-
Hangover
: Withdrawal symptoms incl
Alcohol Poisoning
- Dangerously high level of alcohol consumption, resulting in depression in the central nervous system, slowed breathing and heart rate, and compromised gag reflex.
- Signs include mental confusion, vomiting, seizures, slow or irregular breathing, low bod
Long-Term Effects of Alcohol on the Body
Chronic, heavy use of alcohol has been linked to:
- Cancer of the liver, breast, esophagus, mouth, larynx, and throat.
- Neurological effects: Learning, memory, and brain damage.
- Cardiovascular disease.
-- Liver disease:
-- Fatty liver
-- Alcoholic hepa
Alcohol and Pregnancy
- Ingesting alcohol during the first trimester of pregnancy can cause miscarriage.
-
Fetal alcohol syndrome
: A pattern of mental and physical birth defects found in some children of mothers who drank excessively during pregnancy.
-- Facial abnormalities
Alcohol and Sexual Activity
- Engaging in sexual intercourse while intoxicated can lead to:
- Unplanned sexual activities (reported by 21% of college students who had too much to drink).
- Lack of protection while having sex, leading to possible exposure to STDs such as AIDS or hepa
Alcohol Abuse
-
Alcohol abuse
: Drinking alcohol to excess, either regularly or on individual occasions, resulting in disruption of work, school, or home life and causing interpersonal, social, or legal problems.
-
Alcoholism
(alcohol dependence): A physical dependence
Alcoholism
- At least three of the following symptoms during a one-year period:
- Tolerance
- Withdrawal symptoms
- Loss of control
- Desire or inability to quit
- Overwhelming time commitment
- Interference with life
- Continued use
Risk Factors for Alcoholism
- Se
Treatment Options and Dealing with Relapse
- Medications
- Alcohol counseling or "talk therapy"
- Self-help groups
- Intensive treatment programs
- Returning to drinking after a period of sobriety.
- Experienced by up to 90% of drinkers when they first try to quit.
Why Do Some Students Smoke?
- Genetics.
- Family and peer exposure.
- Age at initiating smoking.
- Psychosocial factors.
- Desire to lose weight.
- Role of media and advertising
What's in a Cigarette?
-
50%
shredded tobacco leaf.
-
30%
reconstituted tobacco (made from other parts of the tobacco plant, such as the stem).
-
20%
expanded tobacco (tobacco that has been "puffed up" like popcorn and functions as "filler").
- Nearly
600 additives
with a wide
Smoking and Pregnancy
- When a pregnant woman smokes, so does her unborn baby.
- Babies born to women who smoke are 2-3 times more likely to die of
sudden infant death syndrome
than babies born to women who don't smoke.
- They are more likely to be born prematurely.
- They are
Secondhand Smoke (Environmental Tobacco Smoke)
- The smoke to which nonsmokers are exposed when someone has been smoking nearby.
- It contains more than
250
chemicals known to be toxic or capable of causing cancer.
- Some chemicals are present in higher concentrations in secondhand smoke than in the s
Other Forms of Tobacco
-
Cigars
: Contain the same addictive, toxic, cancer-causing substances that cigarettes do.
-
Clove cigarettes
: No evidence that they are any safer than cigarettes.
-
Bidis
: Not safer than cigarettes.
-
Smokeless spit tobacco
: Associated with an increa
Treatments Options for Smoking
- Nicotine replacement therapies: Gum, inhalers, nasal sprays, lozenges, and patches.
- Prescription drugs: Chantix and Zyban.
- Residential, individual, or group therapy and education and support groups.